He visits every office, store and distribution centre, and makes an effort to meet every new employee, although he’s always Mickey, not Mr. Drexler. He’ll notice if light bulbs are too dim, or how long the water cooler has been broken. And it’s up to him to remember his cousin’s birthday, although one of his assistants jots down the note once he says it aloud and she’ll gently remind him later.

There have to be some perks to being in charge of a company that has steadily gained style cred since Drexler took over in 2003. It’s also expanded from its signature prepster khakis and T-shirts that launched 30 years ago as a catalogue-only business to a high-design collection of casual and dressy clothes in bold colours and prints in 287 free-standing stores, including its Madewell label. It’s also available to 103 countries online.

Michelle Obama famously told comedian Jay Leno on his talk show during the 2008 presidential campaign that she would order J. Crew clothes online late at night.

J. Crew lands in China this fall with its first retail presence outside North America in Lane Crawford department stores.

The company even previews at the upcoming New York Fashion Week, sandwiched on the schedule between Tory Burch, Badgley Mischka and Vera Wang.

Under Drexler’s leadership, J. Crew has carved out a place in the fashion hierarchy that’s just between trendsetter and accessible, and he seems to like living in that space.

It takes a little effort to keep up with Drexler, 68, who previously served as CEO of Gap Inc. and is a director at Apple. He jumps from topic to topic as if he’s playing Ping-Pong but never seems to take his eye off the ball.

He’s been known to personally respond to a letter from a shopper who has a problem or a suggestion. “People think it’s special if we respond, but it shouldn’t be that way. For us, it all starts at the store and with our customers.”

It nags at him that a sales associate reported moms have complained about the scratchiness of some embellished shirts in the company’s children’s line.

Drexler seems to be honest and candid with his employees, sometimes resulting in criticism but more often he’ll give a happy shout-out.

When it comes to light that the Goldsign Jenny-style skinny jeans (with a US$288 price tag) are popular with shoppers, he calls the office to congratulate the denim team. “Put me on the loudspeaker,” Drexler says.

He makes regular announcements at headquarters, sort of like the principal of a school. “When you say something and a thousand people are hearing it, you hope you leave an impression. I’m also sort of advertising.”

He adds, “I don’t know who listens and hears me, but someone is.”

This month J. Crew relaunched its personal shopping program, renaming it Very Personal Stylist. It will be available at all stores with an emphasis on accommodation, whether that’s body type, budget or time.

“I didn’t like the name ‘personal shopper.’ That makes it sound like too much of a commodity and not personal enough,” Drexler says.

He also hopes the new approach takes the sting out of asking for help. Right now, not enough people seek the expert fashion guidance they can get for free, Drexler says. Maybe it’s because they think they’ll be in for the hard sell or they’ll end up with a look that’s not really who they are, he muses, but everyone can use a second opinion and a little friendly advice.

Drexler asks a new sales associate — someone who’s been on the job in the men’s department for just two days — what style of jeans he should wear.

“Vintage straight,” the employee answers without hesitation.

Yes, he’s in the fashion industry, but he’s not a fashion guy. He relates more to the hospitality business, Drexler explains, which is why he uses a lot of food metaphors and compares J. Crew to a fine restaurant or hotel more than he does other retailers.

“The No. 1 thing is the product. The goods have to be good, but I care about how you feel about it,” he says, noting that he doesn’t believe any advertising — not even the company’s new ad strategy that broke in September fashion magazines or its 40 million catalogues a year — can compare with word of mouth.

“Treat others as you want to be treated,” Drexler says. “Isn’t that in the Bible or something?”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Share

J. Crew pairs trendy with accessibility

Video

Life Videos

Best of Postmedia

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ignore the diversions in the United States: athletes kneeling or standing during the national anthem; Republicans flailing and failing again on health care; a kick-boxing creationist possibly becoming senator from Alabama. Calamity looms elsewhere. We are hurtling toward war with North Korea. It may be as early as next month. […]

It wasn’t in the middle of a farmer’s muddy field or deep in the boreal forest where the Canadian oilsands truly struck pay dirt. It was inside Fort McMurray’s recreation centre. More than 1,400 oilpatch workers, corporate executives, provincial leaders and the country’s prime minister assembled 21 years ago in northern Alberta to grasp a […]

Google’s powerful search engine is defeating some court-ordered publication bans in Canada and undermining efforts to protect young offenders and victims. Computer experts believe it’s an unintended, “mind-boggling” consequence of Google search algorithms. In six high-profile cases documented by the Citizen, searching the name of a young offender or victim online pointed to media coverage […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.